Written by Victoria Downing, president of Remodelers Advantage, a national consulting firm specializing in the challenges of running a remodeling company.
Several years ago, Adrienne and Troy Fenley, owners of Encompass Design Build, in Vienna, Va, worked with a consultant to create a strategic plan. The process began with the development of the company's mission and vision. "We believed in the concepts,: Adrienne says, but the "documents were put into a drawer to gather dust."
Then, at a recent peer group meeting, the Fenleys were introduced to the idea of a personal vision statement. "This was an epiphany," Adrienne says.
They wrote down their individual goals for desired income, time spent in the business, personal time, travel, and retirements. Then they had another epiphany: "We realized that we had no idea what our key managers wanted," Adrienne says, "so it was impossible to know how to help them reach their goals. Without knowing, how could we keep our top players?"
So the Fenleys requested a written vision statement from each of their key managers and were surprised at the response. "Everyone was 100% into it," Adrienne says. "Because our team is young, ambitious, and career-focused, this was a natural outgrowth."
The results were powerful for everyone. "One team member saw that in the next two years he'd have an MBA and a baby," Adrienne says. "With these goals reached, his financial goals would change dramatically – which translated to him taking more responsibilities here in order to make the money he needed. Now that we all know what where he wants to go, we can work together to try to deliver. This is huge in building a long-term, energized staff. Without asking them to share their own personal visions, we may have really missed the boat."
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